When I launch an attack, it appears I take a fair bit of casualties on the first round of combat..I assume this means that the defence is hitting my troops 'out in the open' so to speak.

Because of this, I am beginning to think that it is only good to attack the enemy when you have most of your AP's left, and not as my habit is to attack just because I can. I have seen a few (secondary) assaults where I only get a couple rounds, so I take all that first round damage, and not get to inflict much in return.

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 7/18/2012 5:36:00 PM >

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What's the sense of sending $2 million missiles to hit a $10 tent that's empty?

i try to minimize the number of attacks and concentrate on the ones i do. when playing the german side it is absolutely necessary to keep casualties low. here are my rules for successfull attacks:

A. chose targets wisely: well dug in inf. in cities or wood should be avoided, instead try to encircle them. attack units in open terrain. B. if you encirlce units wait until their supply level makes them easy target (at least two turns for hexes with high defence values) C. don't waste tanks to attack cities

1. before an attack entrenchment and readiness of the defender have to be reduced 2. first airstrikes, bombers for infantry, Stukas for tanks 3. second artillery: the defenders already lost some entrenchment because of the airstrike and will take some losses now 4. entrenchment should be around zero now, readiness should be down considerable 5. maximize attack: attack from different sides, attack with units of the same division, use maximum stack allowance 6. attacking units have to be in HQ range, use cards for higher off. values or for faster movement

on the offensive encirclement is the way to go. do not try to fight all units. instead try to cut off as many ennemies as possible. use your bombers to destroy bridges on escape routes. cut off units will lose most of their fighting power after two rounds without supply. this way you will finish off lot's of ennemies without wearing down your troops.

if i have to break through two lines of defenders i try to have some panzer artillery ready for the second line. if an attack succesfully dislodges a defender i try to attack him with armor. a dislodged defender has no entrenchment, almost no ap left and low readiness. i think an airstrike might be a waste of oil and better be used on units that still are capable to put up a fight.

select a hex with a bridge, push air attack button and than select a bomber. it doesn't matter if there are ennemies in the hex or not. there's a chance that the bridge is blown after the attack. you have to keep this in mind if you do an airstrike: if you want to use the bridge after the attack either don't use the airstrike or refrain from using bombers.